A method of laser ablation for electrical contact to a buried electrically conducting layer in diamond comprising polishing a single crystal diamond substrate having a first carbon surface, implanting the diamond with a beam of 180 KeV followed by 150 KeV C+ ions at fluencies of 4×1015 ions/cm2 and 5×1015 ions/cm2 respectively, forming an electrically conducting carbon layer beneath the first carbon surface, and ablating the single crystal diamond which lies between the electrically conducting layer and the first carbon surface.